Tread for tires.



J. A. BOWDEN.

TREAD FOR TIRES.

. APPLIUATION FILED APR. 16. 190s.

1,03'?,116 Patented Aug.27,191'2. n

.thegjfollowing-is aspecification.

1 JUNIusNAJ Bownnmoir Los ancienne, oALpIFoRNIA.

at; inf the county of Los Angeles ,California, have -invented ai Tires,`of vvhichl v This invention relateszt'o a tread for tires;

' being adapted either for,l neumatic,vcushion at view'- 'Similar tofing.-v

lh-for solid'tires, andlthemain object ofthe in n ;ventionfis-to providea renewabletreadfpori' tion *which` may 'be f detachably/z aplied tot,the tire s j hsjtebe readily for.. lockingv the .renew-i 'crosssecti'onthrough one fform ofreneW- able tread portiomo'ne form of .key adapted?for'se- :therein being shown" in lelevationf jfremoved-ftherefrom. 'Fi 2isaf-sctionali v "v'iem'fthroughanother fgorm .of renewable 25, treadportionlshowing the Ikey in section and;i 'removedgtherefromb fifg. `3is. a- -sectionalj vtingi another erin of renewablef r 'I ofithe'key 1nprocess of being inserted and? u Sothefke'y being shown in sectlon'inits tinall posi/tion.'A Fig. 41s afview 'similar-.to :'Fig' lfshowin'v'still another form. JFig. 5 is ai v'envivlfsiim arto. Fig. 1 showingstill anotherl frurwith` the' key in position. Fig. l6 isa? y 1,showing'- yanotlier "iformhvithfthe keypartly in place., Fig. if :isacross sectional view through a plug 'of rlthe formused in. Fig. 5; Fig.8 is a plan viewfof aplugpl-"Fig 9 is a' plan viewv of. 't0 lmoditied-lorm'of receptacle. Fig. -10 is. i' aside elevation-.of thelower' portion of thev "key'us/ed in the form shown in Fig. 2. Fig.

'11 is aY eross sectional View through a modi- 1 lied form of key. iFig.12 is a side elevation ofna' tire, provided Witha ring shapedirenewableportion, the tire being shown partly in sectinto illustratethe .locking features. Fig; lbjis across section on line wwfon anvenlargedscale, rthroughl the outer portion ojofttheftire yshowii in Fig.12. Fig. 14 is a .view similar` to 13'showin a slightly modified form.Fig. 15 is -a p anview of keyused in Fig. 3. F'g.f16 is acrosssectionalviewthrough 'a modied -forno of "the lplug. Fig. 17 isan'elevittion view of the 'ey used nFig.' 16. f

v Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed April 16, .1908.Serial No. 427,5114.

1 is caused to tightly fit the -rernova le thereg .ffromfWhen-worn ndistde'sired to-substl-V lr6-t enmvetinfiilso consists :in a simplef` of:the plug readily "able tread may consist'of Aitiriydotted lines showingpositionl 'the lower portion of the Patented Aug. 27,1912.

from contracting by a key inserted` in thel locking portion' so that thelocking portion cavit in the tire. The cavity in the tire, or thelocking portion, or both, have, p referably, variant diametersfwhichjresults in locking the same togetherv until the key isv removed.4The hole Briefiyfthe invention comprises'a renew- 1n the 'renewabletread portion serves two very important purposes for the key for locking.when the key is removed viz., to provide it in place, and the holepermits removal of the plug. Y v :In one form of the invention thisrenew yserted and locked as before described.` l

One form of contracting` to permit' plugs formed pref erably of rubberwhich'are 'detachably inplug is. shown in Fig.` 1 inl which 1 designatesthe tire wit-hin vsfhieh is embedded a abl);r of-metal andA having an'enlaroed lower bulbous portionB.I able tread "portion, `whichcomprisesl "a ,plug formed preferably ofrubber andhaving a lockingportion 5 which has variant diame; ters so that it fits abovethe'surface of the tire 1 and is flanged and forms the traotiveortion'of the tire. The plug is locked in pljace by means of a key whichis'inserted in. a' hole 6 formed in the center of the lug.s One form ofkey may comprise a cylindrical Amember 7 having a rounded lower e 7 isinserted it expands the plug d causing it totightly grip the receptacleand when lug is expanded. the plug is'locked in position.

' In the form Ashown in Fig. 9.' the plug 4t has a locking portion 5"formed with two circular ribs 5 and the receptacle 2 is formed to fitthe locking portion 5b :is shown. In this form the key comprises a lowerportion 7b threaded as shownfin detail in Fig. 10, and having in itsupper end a the key com rises a rubber cylinder 8b which s esameelasticity as the plug 4 While the lower portion 7b lis preferablyformed'of hardV ru her or metal'or composi- -receptacle 2 formed prefer#the receptacle 2, as shown. f

The wearing portion of the plug 4 extends The upper portion ofl 4designates t ernewslot '7 for tlieinsertion of a screw driver, notshown, to screw'the key into posit-ion 'or unscrew the same.

i form, they i The plug 4 is perforation'7e in its center.

receptacle 2d.

f vided so the disk in position by meansV taCle 2d.

- surface of the tire. form, the plug 5o and a reduced upper portion 455expanding In the form shown 1n Fig. 6 the plug 4 eoit? In this form theke 66 the tire 1.

tio 'which will permit it to be easily screwed int or out of positionand afforded the necessary resistance against the locking portion 5b toprevent the latter from yielding 'In this key being in two sections,allows the upper protruding portion of the plug 4 to yield laterallyslightly, whereas, with the key 7 shown in duced.

In the form sho-wn in Fig. '3 the plug 4 has a locking portion 5d of abulbous shape and the receptacle 2d is shaped to fit the same. hollow asin the preceding forms, but is lprovided with an enlarged cavity 6iwhich enables the key 7d to be easily placed in position. In this formthe key is shown as a concave-convex disk having a Dotted lines show thedisk in position in the cavity 5d, while the disk is shown in full linesstationed in its final resting place at a point below the cavity; 6d butabove the bottom of the The perforation 7e is pro-v that a wire orotherdeyice may be.

inserted through the disk to remove the same when it is desired to renewa plug. The perforation also -enables the placing of of any suit ableinstrument, not shown. It will be noted .that when the disk is in itsfinal position it1 forces out the lower locking portion 51 orthe plugand locks it within the recep- In the form shown in Fig. 4 the plug 4vis contained wholly within the receptacle 2 so thatthe face of the plugis Hush with the As indicated in this 4 may have a hole 6t of two:

diameters so that when the cylindrical plugI 7t is inserted the lowerport-ion of the p lug is eX ended the Vrequisite degree without un du yexpanding the upper portion of they plu Irgi the form shown in Fig. 5,the plug 4 may have a hole of even diameter throughout,.asshown indetail in Fig. 7, and thekey 'may have an enlarged lowenportio-n 7 8".It will be noted that this produces practically the effeet attained bythe form shown in Fig. 4, the result inbot-h cases being to expand thelower portion of the plug the upper portion thereof.

has a locking portion 5 of variantdiameters being formed with a concaveoove 5l1 at its center and the receptacle Q 1s shaped to 7 is shown ashavpushe into position. It

ing been partl in this form that receptacle should be note 2 does notvhave any bottom of the pljig 4 Fig. 1, which is substan- 10 tlallyrigid throughout,thiseiit`ect is not pro- 'larged at the without undulybottom and that the: rests directly against,

Fig. 7 shows the rubber plug 4 used in the forms of both Figs. -1 and 5,removed.

Fig. 12 shows a complete tire having a Acircular tread portion 13 whichencircles the tire and which is provided with a 'series of inwardlyprojecting plugs 14 'which ma have any yof the 'contours before describeas, for example, shown inFig. 4. 13 is secured in in the manner a laceIby kevs 7 which act ove described. 'The two the contour similar to 'thatThe circular tread portion ends of the circular vtread port-ion 13 meetat 15 and are scarfed at the joint. By removing the keys 7 the circulartread portion 13 may be removed;

Fig/1,3 shows a cross form and illustrates' how be arranged in pairs oposite eachother and wires 16 may girdle the circular. tread portion 13,the wires being laid into lcircum erential grooves formed in thecircular tread portion 13 near to the sidest-hereoi so the wires willkeep in place,lthe material of the tread portion closing over them whenthey are in position. The circular tread portion 13 has a shallowcentral groove 17 which may be found advantageous in promoting thetractive qualities.

Fig. 14 shows a slight modification over that of Fi 13 wherein the wires-16 are sectionl through this the plugs 14 mayv omittedan the centergroove 17 is omitted.

, In the form of receptacle shown in Fig. 9 its longitudinal walls arescalloped,` as shown.

In the form of key shown in Fig. 11 the lower section 7h is se aratefrom the' u er` P PP portion 8, the latterhaving a stud 9h whichprojects into thelower portion 7h. In this f torni the lower portion 7hmay consist of a relatively hard material while 'the upper portion 8lmay consist of rubber having the same yielding gualities as that in theein` posed portion o the plug 4. locking portion 25 of theplug iscylindrical with straight walls; the receptacle v2 is enbottom as inpreceding forms. The Akey shown in Fig. 17 1s employed and has anenlarged lower end 7 which when in place forces out the walls of theplug s ov that they interlock with the receptacle.

The purpose of t-he top tlange in some of the forms, is to preventunnecessary wear or cutting of the .flanged end of the lug, which wearwould form a space in w ich grit would collect and increase the wear. i.It will be noted that in all of these vforms' s `own the essentialfeatures of the invention are present and the renewable-portions may bereadily det-ached when desired for the purpopeI of renewal or for otherpurposes. The plugs. when attached in place project iromtlie surface ofthe tire and the wearing-portion so that the main -body of los 30, shownlari the tire 1 is saved from wear and thus may be used for a long time,the plugs being readily renewable when worn down, as indicated in Fig.Il. Obviously, when the plugs are worn down as indicated in Fig. 4, theyneed not necessarily be renewed as the tire will then serve just as anordinary tire except that puncture will be minimized. With the exceptionof the form shown in Fig. 6, the bottoms ot the receptacles act tominimize puncture, in addition to their capacity of affording anunyielding wall to interlock with the plugs. In any of the forms, whenthe key is removed, the plug will be permitted to contract so that itmay be withdrawn from the receptacle, while when the key is in place itprevents the plug trom contracting and holds it in firm engagement,interlocked with the receptacle, and as the receptacles are by reason oftheir contour locked in the tire and as they are also preferablyvulcanized to the tire, the plugs are thus positively retained in thetire until it is desired to remove them.

What I claim is z- 1. A detachable ltread portion for vehicle tireshaving a portion of variant diameters seated in the tire, and meansinsertible in said portion for spreading the same t0 detachably lock itin posit-ion.

2. A detachable tread portion for vehicle tires having al hollow rubberlocking portion of variant diameters seated in the tire, and adetachable key filling the hollow portion and preventing it fromContracting and unlocking from the tire.

3. A detachable tread portion for tires having a locking portion ofvariant diameters, a receptacle seated in the tire and fitting thelocking port-ion, and means removable from the locking portion forholding the locking portion in close engagement with the receptacle.

1. A detachable'hollow rubber tread portion for tires having a lockingportion seated in the tire, and a substantially incompressible `keydetachably fitted in said hollow portion and holding the same indetachable engagement with the tire.

5. A detachable hollow rubber tread portion for tires having a lockingportion, a metallic receptacle embedded in the tire and engaging saidlocking portion, and a substantially incompressible key detachablyinserted in said locking portion to lock the same in said receptacle.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a detachable tread portion forvehicle tires comprising a hollow member having a shank of variantdiameters.

:below the top.

8. A vehicle tire with a; pocket containing 4an elastic hollow plug andmeans fitted within said plug for detachably securing the ping withinsaid pocket.

'9. A'velncle tire having a xed tread portion, a metal cup permanentlysecured therein, a rubber plug with a longitudinal hole in it, said plugfitted in said cup, and a member fitted in said hole.

10. A detachable tread portion for vehicle tires having a portion ofvariant cross sectional areas seated in the tire, and means insertiblein said portion to prevent contraction of said portion and lock it inplace.

11. A vehicle tire having a iiXed tread portion, a flanged top metal cuppermanently secured therein, a rubber plug with a longitudinal hole init, said plug fitted in said cup, and a member fitted in said hole.

12. A vehicle tire comprising a tread portion having a series ofcavities formed therein, a `series of expansible plugs seated in saidcavities and projecting slightly beyond said tread portion to formwearing surfaces, each of said plugs having a longitudinal holeextending through it from end toend, and a detachable key of greaterdiameter than the uneXpanded diameter of the hole seated'in the hole andexpanding the plug into close engagement with the cavity in which it isseated.

1-3. A vehicle tire comprising a `circular portion having a series ofcavities therein, a series of rubber plugs inserted in said cavities,each plug having a hole, extending through it from end to end, and acylindrical key inserted in the hole in each plug for expanding the pluginto tight engagement with the cavity.

14. A vehicle tire comprising a circular portion having a series ofcavities therein, a metallic cup closely fitting in each cavity, a.rubber plug closely fitting in each cup, each plug` having alongitudinal hole, and a key inserted in said hole and expanding saidplug into tight engagement with said` metallic cup.

In testimony whereof, Ihave hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California, this 9th day of April 1908.

JUNIUS A.' BOWDEN.

In presence of;

. GEORGE T. HACKLEY,

FRANK L. A. GRAHaM.

